Family Violence Prevention and Services/Discretionary

The purpose of this program is to fund a wide range of discretionary activities for the purpose of: (1) providing resource information, training and technical assistance to improve the capacity of individuals, organizations, government entities, and

The ACF Specialized Services for Abused Parents and Their Children focuses on providing support to non-abusing parents and their children affected by domestic violence. This initiative aims to enhance the capacity of local services and coalitions to prevent future incidents of family violence by addressing the specific needs of children exposed to domestic violence. Services include counseling, advocacy, and developmental support to help both parents and children cope with the effects of abuse.

Depending on the purpose of the project and the statutory requirements, an applicant may be a nonprofit private organization, tribal organization, federally recognized Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian organization, local public agency, institution of higher education, private organization, Alaska Native Village, or nonprofit Alaska Native Regional Corporation.

These discretionary awards will benefit victims of family violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and their dependents, families, other interested persons, the general public, and communities and government entities.

Discretionary federal financial assistance may be made to public and private entities and may take the form of a competitive cooperative agreement. Applicants must meet the program and administrative requirements specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Restrictions include maketing, advertising and public relations

Projects may vary from a 12-month project period to a 5-year project period depending on statutory and programmatic requirements.

The criteria for selecting proposals will be published in the NOFO(s ).

Each application will be screened to determine whether it meets any of the disqualifying factors: missing the application deadline, required electronic submission or waiver requested and approved, or exceeding the Award Ceiling. Disqualified applications are considered to be "non-responsive" and are excluded from the competitive review process. Applications competing for financial assistance will be reviewed and evaluated by merit review panels using only the criteria described in Section V.1. Criteria of the NOFO. Each panel is composed of experts with knowledge and experience in the area under review. Generally, review panels include three reviewers and one chairperson. Results of the competitive merit review are taken into consideration by ACF in the selection of projects for funding; however, merit review scores and rankings are not binding. Scores and rankings are only one element used in the award decision-making process. If identified in Section I. Program Description, ACF reserves the right to consider preferences to fund organizations serving emerging, unserved, or under-served populations, including those populations located in pockets of poverty. In addition, ACF reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering geographic distribution of federal funds (e.g. ensuring coverage of states, counties, or service areas) in its pre-award decisions. ACF may elect not to fund applicants with management or financial problems that would indicate an inability to successfully complete the proposed project. In addition, ACF may elect to not allow a prime recipient to subaward if there is any indication that they are unable to properly monitor and manage subrecipients. Applications may be funded in whole or in part. Successful applicants may be funded at an amount lower than requested.

See the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for deadline information.

Renewals (non-competing continuations), if authorized under the terms and conditions of the award, will be issued based on availability of funds, satisfactory progress, compliance with grant terms and conditions and a determination that continuation funding is in the best interest of the federal government.

There is no appeal process for unsuccessful applicants. For existing recipients, appeals regarding disputes may take place in accordance with 45 CFR Part 16, subject to the limitations of the Appendix A.